Beach Soccer at the European Games

Beach Soccer has been part of each edition of the European Games (EG) – a quadrennial, multi-sport event – since the inaugural edition in 2015 as a men's sport,[1] and since the third edition in 2023 as a women's sport.[2] The competition is under the direction of the European Olympic Committees (EOCs);[3] beach soccer's governing bodies (FIFA and UEFA) are represented by Beach Soccer Worldwide (BSWW) at the Games.[4]

Beach Soccer at the European Games
Organising bodiesEOC
BSWW
RegionEurope (UEFA)
Men's event
EG event since2015; 9 years ago (2015)
Number of teams8
Current champions  Switzerland (1st title)
Most successful team(s) Russia
 Portugal
  Switzerland
(1 title each)
Women's event
EG event since2023; 1 year ago (2023)
Number of teams6
Current champions Spain (1st title)
Most successful team(s) Spain (1 title)

Men's tournament

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Eight teams take part. The hosts qualify automatically; of the most recent edition of the Euro Beach Soccer League (EBSL), the top six teams of the Superfinal and winners of the Promotion Final also qualify. To participate, nations must be members of both the EOCs and UEFA.[4]

Portugal and Switzerland are most successful nations having won a total of two medals, including one gold each.

Results

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Year Location Gold medal match Bronze medal match
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score Fourth place
2015
details
  Baku, Azerbaijan  
Russia
3–2  
Italy
 
Portugal
6–5  
Switzerland
2019
details
  Minsk, Belarus  
Portugal
8–3  
Spain
 
Switzerland
5–4  
Ukraine
2023
details
  Kraków, Poland  
Switzerland
5–2  
Italy
 
Spain
5–5 (a.e.t.)
(2–0 p)
 
Portugal

Performance

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Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Portugal (POR)1012
  Switzerland (SUI)1012
3  Russia (RUS)1001
4  Italy (ITA)0202
5  Spain (ESP)0112
Totals (5 entries)3339

All-time top goalscorers

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As of 2023

The following table shows the all-time goalscorers (minimum 10 goals).

Rank Player Team Goals Notes
1 Dejan Stankovic    Switzerland 25 2023 top scorer (11 goals)
2 Gabriele Gori   Italy 18 2019 top scorer (11 goals)
3 Léo Martins   Portugal 14
4 Chiky Ardil   Spain 13
Noël Ott    Switzerland
Emmanuele Zurlo   Italy
7 Belchior   Portugal 11 2015 top scorer (8 goals)
8 Llorenç Gómez   Spain 10
Bê Martins   Portugal
Antonio Mayor   Spain
Jordan Santos   Portugal

Sources: 2015[usurped], 2019, 2023.

Overall standings

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As of 2023

Pos Team App Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts PPG
1   Portugal 3 15 9 2 0 4 78 51 +27 31 2.07
2   Italy 3 15 8 1 0 6 72 57 +15 26 1.73
3   Spain 3 15 7 1 2 5 69 58 +11 25 1.67
4    Switzerland 3 15 7 1 1 6 77 59 +18 24 1.60
5   Ukraine 3 15 6 0 1 8 58 63 –5 19 1.27
6   Russia 2 10 5 0 1 4 38 34 +4 16 1.60
7   Belarus 1 5 2 0 1 2 24 20 +4 7 1.40
8   Azerbaijan 2 10 1 1 0 8 28 49 –21 5 0.50
9   Poland 1 5 1 0 0 4 18 25 –7 3 0.60
10   Hungary 1 5 1 0 0 4 14 21 –7 3 0.60
11   Moldova 1 5 1 0 0 4 23 31 –8 3 0.60
12   Romania 1 5 0 0 0 5 8 39 –31 0 0.00

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG

Appearances & performance timeline

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Key
Year
Team
2015
 
(8)
2019
 
(8)
2023
 
(8)
Apps
3
  Azerbaijan 8th × 5th 2
  Belarus × 7th × 1
  Hungary 7th × × 1
  Italy S 5th S 3
  Moldova × × 6th 1
  Poland × × 8th 1
  Portugal B G 4th 3
  Romania × 8th × 1
  Russia G 6th ×× 2
  Spain 5th S B 3
   Switzerland 4th B G 3
  Ukraine 6th 4th 7th 3
12 nations

Women's tournament

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Six teams take part. The hosts qualify automatically; of the most recent edition of the Women's Euro Beach Soccer League (WEBSL), the top five teams of the Superfinal qualify. To participate, nations must be members of both the EOCs and UEFA.[5] For the 2023 edition, England finished in one of the qualification spots via the WEBSL.[6] However, because England does not have an independent EOC, they could not compete at the Games and so were replaced by the Czech Republic.

Results

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Year Location Gold medal match Bronze medal match
Gold medalists Score Silver medalists Bronze medalists Score Fourth place
2023
details
  Kraków, Poland  
Spain
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(5–3 p)
 
Ukraine
 
Portugal
2–2 (a.e.t.)
(3–0 p)
 
Poland

Performance

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Medal table

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RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1  Spain (ESP)1001
2  Ukraine (UKR)0101
3  Portugal (POR)0011
Totals (3 entries)1113

Overall standings

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As of 2023

Pos Team App Pld W W+ WP L GF GA GD Pts PPG
1   Spain 1 4 2 0 2 0 11 8 +3 8 2.00
2   Portugal 1 4 2 0 1 1 10 7 +3 7 1.75
3   Ukraine 1 4 2 0 0 2 11 10 +1 6 1.50
4   Poland 1 4 1 0 0 3 10 8 +2 3 0.75
5   Italy 1 3 0 1 0 2 4 4 0 2 0.67
6   Czech Republic 1 3 0 0 0 3 4 13 –9 0 0.00

Key: Appearances App / Won in normal time W = 3 points / Won in extra-time W+ = 2 points / Won on penalty shoot-out WP = 1 point / Lost L = 0 points / Points per game PPG

Appearances & performance timeline

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Key
Year
Team
2023
 
(8)
Apps
1
  Czech Republic 6th 1
  Italy 5th 1
  Poland 4th 1
  Portugal B 1
  Spain G 1
  Ukraine S 1
6 nations

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Crawford, Alex (27 May 2014). "Beach soccer at Baku 2015 will showcase a growing and innovative form of the "beautiful game"". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. ^ Palmer, Dan (16 May 2023). "Holders to meet hosts as 2023 European Games beach soccer draw made". Inside the Games. Retrieved 4 July 2023. A women's beach soccer tournament has not been held at the European Games before.
  3. ^ "European Games Minsk 2019". Beach Soccer Worldwide. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  4. ^ a b "Qualification System – Beach Soccer" (PDF). Minsk 2019. March 2018. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  5. ^ "QUALIFICATION SYSTEM – 3RD EUROPEAN GAMES - KRAKOW & MALOPOLSKA 2023" (PDF). European Olympic Committees. 12 September 2022. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Italy and Spain to meet in the EBSL final". Beach Soccer Worldwide. 10 September 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2023. England to join Spain, Italy, Ukraine and Portugal at the 2023 European Games in Krakow
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